Review: Pottery Barn Kids Spencer Bento Box Containers

Have you decided what sort of lunchbox you are going to send to school/work/uni this year? I'm still undecided as Miss M will be heading to Prep and the lunch routine will be a little different from her Kindergarten and day care days. It's not like I don't have an array to choose from, but I'm always on the look out for that one-perfect-for-everything box. You can check out some of my collection in my Lunchbox Line Up and Lunch Box Experiment posts.

I asked my friend, and reason this blog got started, Anna about her latest lunchbox. You can read more of her work over at Frugally Fabulous! Welcome Anna!

We (well, the kids) just got new lunchboxes! We'd (I'd) been coveting these for a while now. With B starting Kindergarten in two weeks, I thought we'd better go for something with a better seal since it could get bundled around in his backpack. And of course, it would have been a great injustice for L to not have a new matching lunchbox in her favorite color.

I decided on the Pottery Barn Kids Spencer Bento Box containers based on the recommendation of a friend (and mom of a newly graduated Kindergartener). So far I really like it, and the kids do too.

Ease of use for 2 yr old - 10/10
Ease of use for 5 yr old - 10/10
Sandwich size compartment - No, but I always cut the sandwiches anyway. It fits an entire cut sandwich in the big compartment.
Dishwasher safe - Yes, top rack only, but in truth it takes up too much room - two of these babies pretty much fill the top rack of my dishwasher so I'm hand washing them.
Compartments - 5 - honestly, I found it a little overwhelming working out how to fill that many compartments - I am going to order some bento picks so I can put one of those and a couple of antibacterial hand wipes in one section - I think I can handle four foods in a lunchbox!
Lids - Attached - Hooray, no looking for lids! The downside is they don't fit in the dishwasher easily because the lids don't detach.
Leaks - No! Haven't tried with yogurt yet but the watermelon in the small lidded section did not leak! L was able to close it herself and drop it repeatedly in the car with no spills!  
Price - $US16.50 (Now available in Australia, check this link for details)

UPDATE:
We christened the kids' new lunchboxes today, and I couldn't help but add a little extra fun!

It's literally taken years of negotiation with B to agree on square-shaped sandwiches. With hesitation I decided to take a leaf out of Jackie's book and put my crocodile cookie cutter to use. Since B also now FINALLY eats crusts, I decided not to rock the boat too much. I made two identical sandwiches and cut just one crocodile for each child from one sandwich and cut the rest of that sandwich into two small squares. The second sandwich was cut into four squares, so each child ended up with three small squares and a crocodile.


Watermelon; Red seedless grapes, Apple slices, Raisins, Nutella sandwiches (3 square, 1 croc)

I decided the crocodile didn't look all that crocodile-ish, so I added a raisin eye (I put a tiny bit of honey on the bread first so it would stick).

 Sadly, B liked the little croc too much to eat him at lunchtime while I was in my gym class. He said he wanted to photograph him first. I assured him that I had already taken a photo for the blog. He ate the little croc later in the afternoon.


Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review. I received the lunchboxes as a gift from a friend as a thank you for looking after her 2 year old twin daughters for a day!

-- A

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are the author's, based on their personal experience with the product.